Agent Coulson 007 - Skyfall
by Wolfca
Summary: AU - Agent Coulson has another name, a codename, 007! When SHIELD comes under attack from within only a double-0 agent can handle it. Fury send in his best man for the job. Name's Coulson, Phil Coulson
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing, not Marvel, not Coulson and certainly not James Bond

**Author's Note: **

The Name's Coulson, Phil Coulson. That's right readers, Phil Coulson is going to star in his own James Bond story. This is loosely based on Skyfall the 23rd James Bond film and will of course feature elements from Agents of SHIELD.

This seems to be the first time I've ever heard or such a thing so I hope I do this story and Coulson proud lol, please be nice in the reviews.

Also I will point out that I have been dropped what has been dubbed a 'Super Spy Challenge' from Alisha Winchester Collins. I can't say what it is till the mission is complete (God why do I agree to such things! lol)

Without further mention, please read and enjoy this AU Agent Coulson as 007!

**Skyfall**

**Chapter 1**

It had been a year since the fatal incident. A year of intense physiotherapy to make sure he was fit enough to continue working. He'd been on small mission before this, mainly stakeouts to test his mental awareness, but this was his first big op since that day at the Battle of New York. This op had him partnered up with an old colleague of his, Agent Melinda May. Agent Coulson was a Secret Agent from a special branch of SHIELD, Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. He was a Double-O Agent. One of the select few Agents who have no family at all and were taken in at such a young age that really all they have ever known is SHIELD. Agent Coulson was one of the best at his job, preferring to work alone and the most difficult of cases. This time though he was under orders to have a partner and they were undercover. May wore a dark coloured tank top and trousers with a light grey thin jacket. Coulson was in dark jeans and a faded grey t-shirt. Over the top of that he wore a well-worn black leather jacket.

They were on a mission in Los Angeles. It was the peak of summer and the heat was unbearable. They were tracking a group of hackers who were known as the Rising Tide. The group had been a bit of a nuisance with SHIELD in the past but the information they had stolen this time was of a great concern to them. It listed every undercover agent SHIELD had all over the world. Director Fury was listening in as Agents May and Double-0 Coulson as they got closer to the location. May was driving an unmarked SHIELD Acura SUV and was waiting round the back of the small hotel in the car. Coulson was walking slowly and purposefully through the building.

"You want the second floor, room 29." A voice said into Coulson's ear.

The voice belonged to Maria Hill, Director Fury's assistant.

Coulson didn't say anything as he headed up the stairs. As he neared the room he drew his gun. The door was slightly ajar so Coulson barged in, weapon in front. The room was dark and only lit by the light from the corridor. It was a simple room with a bed and small living area and attached bathroom. Coulson walked over to the laptop with the SHIELD logo engraved onto its lip. Flipping it over he saw the hard drive had been ripped out. The person they were tracking must have taken off.

"Have you got the hard drive?" Director Fury's voice called out.

"No its gone." Coulson reported.

"You sure?" Director Fury asked.

Coulson rolled his eyes as he picked up the ruined laptop.

"Oh yeah it's gone." Coulson muttered as he threw the wrecked laptop over his shoulder to clatter to the floor loud enough to be heard over the comms.

The noise awoke the person in the bed. Coulson turned round and pointed the gun before lowering it for a few seconds. The woman looked to be in her early twenties with long dark brown hair and brown eyes. She seemed to be aware of the situation and pulled the covers up to cover her naked body.

"Coulson he's leaving the building via the fire escape." May said into his comms.

Coulson noted the open window and headed over, spying a woman's shirt on the floor he picked it up and tossed it at the young woman before ducking out the window and onto the fire escape. He looked up and down the alley and saw no one except May driving under the fire escape. Coulson jumped over the railing and landed with a thud on the roof. May had the sunroof back and Coulson slipped through the gap. May turned her attention to the pair of long legs and the brief show of stomach as Coulson climbed into the seat beside her. Once he was sat down, May hit the gas and took off a smile on her face.

"What?" Coulson asked noting her smile.

"Nothing." May replied as she gave him one last look up and down.

Coulson watched her eyes and smiled at her. May exited the alleyway and saw the car that the hacker had gone in.

"You got him?" Coulson asked.

"Yeah, black Audi." May replied as she nodded towards the car in front.

"How the hell could he afford that?" Coulson commented as he watched the A5.

"Probably selling stolen information." May commented back watching the road.

The Audi suddnely accelerated away and round a corner into another alleyway. May followed a bit too tight and lost the passenger side mirror.

"Don't worry you weren't using it." Coulson joked.

May smiled as she jinked the wheel and hit the other wing mirror losing it as well.

"Wasn't using that one either." May joked back.

They exited the alleyway straight into a main high street. May gunned the car and pulled alongside the Audi, using the weight of the car to slam into its side trying to knock the car off the road. The hacker returned the sideways body slam. The exchanged happened a couple more times before May pulled away to avoid a bus. Coulson grabbed the wheel and yanked it hard back towards the Audi once they had passed the bus. The Acura hit the front wheel of the Audi hard, buckling it. The Audi clipped the kerb and flipped over onto its side, sliding along the road beside the Acura. May hit the brakes as the Audi slid into a sidewalk stall. The audi dropped back down towards its wheel onto fire hydrant, going nowhere. Coulson spotted the hacker lean out the window holding a gun aiming back at them.

"Get down!" Coulson ordered as he opened his door and drew his weapon.

The hacker was young, maybe a few years older than the woman he had seen back in the room. His hair was short and messy spikes. He had a short beard. Several gun shots were fired towards the agents, shattered the front window. May groaned as she could feel the odd shards of glass hit her back. Coulson had a grim expression on his face as he fired a couple of shots back in retaliation, walking across the road. A couple of youngsters on motorbikes hadn't spotted the commotion as the young hacker saw his escape route. Coulson stopped shooting not wanting to hit civilians and used the chance to reload his pistol. When he heard a couple of shots fire he looked over the stall he was using as cover and saw the two men on bikes go down. One bike stopped not too far away from him and the other skidded next to the hacker. The hacker hoisted the bike up and set off. Coulson jumped on the other and followed. May sat back up in her seat and punched out the shatter glass of the front wind shield having already lost sight of Coulson on a bike.

"Hill, which way?" May asked as she knew it was very possible that the hacker would use the small size of the bike to slip somewhere she couldn't follow.

"Keep going, I can direct you from here." Hill's voice spoke in May's ear.

"Now you both know what's at stake here so don't lose that drive!" Fury ordered down the comms.

"Yes sir!" Coulson shouted over the roar of the bike's engine, keeping the hacker in his sight.

Sure enough the hacker was using the alleyways to his advantage but Coulson was close behind following him. The hacker sent his bike up a set of stairs and onto the rooftops of the shops, Coulson followed. May had completely lost sight and was relying on Hill's directions.

"Where are they?" May asked.

"They appear to be on the rooftops." Hill reported.

The hacker was getting desperate to lose Coulson. He powered the bike some more as he jumped across the alleyway and through the window of the large shopping mall there. People scattered in fright as they wanted to get out of the way of them. The hacker was back on the open streets.

May had to slam the brakes on as she found she was stuck in the middle lane of traffic and it was blocked.

"Turn left, there's a bridge you can cut him off." Hill ordered.

May slammed the Acura into reverse and ignored the beeping of the taxi behind her as the SUV dented in the front of the taxi and turned the wheel hard left. May carried on ignoring the beeps of other motorists as she drove down the wrong side of the road aiming for the bridge. May skidded the vehicle to a halt sideways, blocking the small road. The hacker was heading towards her and skidded to a halt in front of her as Coulson came up behind blocking his path. The hacker jumped off his bike and went to jump off the bridge.

"Get down!" May shouted as she fired several shots towards the hacker and missed.

Coulson could see the hacker had landed safely on the train. Coulson could see there wasn't much time as only a few carriages remained. Gunning the engine once more, Coulson rammed the bike head on into the bridge wall, leaping at the last moment and using the momentum of the crashing bike to send him flying towards the train. The bike crashed to the tracks below and Coulson hit the roof with a thud, landing harm on his shoulder but ignored the pain as the momentum sent him rolling as he fell off the edge of the carriage. He caught the edge of the carriage, groaning and grimacing, Coulson heaved himself onto the roof of the carriage.

"What's happening?" Fury asked.

"They're on the train sir." May reported.

"What do ya mean they're on a train?" Fury demanded.

"I mean they are on top of a train." May answered.

"Well then get after them!" Fury ordered.

May spun on the spot and went back to the Acura and gave chase. Meanwhile Coulson was climbing down from the carriage and onto a flatbed carriage with a couple of excavators on. Coulson peered round the side of one and saw the hacker on the roof clearly looking for him. Coulson fired a couple of shots before taking cover behind the middle digger. May was now running side by side with Coulson's carriage watching.

"He's going out of range." Hill said as she frantically pressed buttons to try and boost the range, "Give me CCTV, satellite, anything!" Hill shouted at the other operatives around her.

"I hate to say this but we're blind here what's going on?" Fury demanded.

"I still have visual." May reported back.

Coulson was now hiding behind the last digger on the opposite side that the hacker had last seen him and fired some more shots at the hacker. The hacker was now using an automatic weapon and returned fire. Coulson ducked back and saw he was out of rounds and magazines, he tossed his gun aside. Looking around the only he saw that could help him from the JCB he was using as cover. Looking back round he made eye contact with the hacker as the hacker had just released his spent magazine. Quickly he fished out another clip and was frantically inserting the clip into the gun. Coulson used the break to climb into the cab of the JCB and turned it on. Several shots hit the back of the cab and Coulson flinched amazed the armoured back of the JCB held up. Spinning the arm and cab round, the hacker looked completely confused trying to figure out what the spy was up to. Even May was watching trying to figure out what the experienced special agent was up to. Losing his confusion the hacker fired his gun once again towards the cab. The glass shattered and Coulson shuddered as a bullet ripped through his right shoulder; his hand was still on the controls as the arm spun round and knocked two out of the five cars on the adjacent flatbed into the path of May.

"What the hell was that?!" Fury asked hearing the crashing down the comms.

May swerved them before answering.

"VW Beetles, I think." May said as she gripped the wheel with both hands looking back towards the JCB and the hacker.

Coulson used the bucket as a shield as he drove the JCB forward. The caterpillar tracks clicked and clacked before crunching over the car in front and moved onto the second. May could only watch as the three remaining VW's which were clearly brand new off the factory floor to go to the car dealership away from Los Angeles were crushed and scrapped under the weight of the JCB. The hacker turned his attention to the coupling and fired, separating the train from the carriage Coulson was currently on.

"Coulson, he's un-coupling the carriages!" May informed him.

Coulson pushed the JCB forward, lifting the arm up and slamming the bucket into the roof of the train just missing the hacker's own feet. The hacker stumbled backwards, dropping the gun before turning and fleeing. The bucket was ripping the roof of the train and Coulson opened the roof of the cab and climbed out and onto the arm of the JCB, carefully he ran along the arm and balanced himself on the bucket as the JCB was about to rip away the back wall of the train. Coulson jumped and landed inside the train as the JCB tore the wall away and fall away behind. Coulson grimaced as the pain in his shot shoulder returned but straightened his jacket and ignored the people around him as he moved through the train listening to the hackers footsteps above him.

"007 are you alright?" Fury asked as he realised he hadn't heard from him for a while.

"Just changing carriages." Coulson replied as he carried on heading along the train.

"Will someone please tell me what the hell is going on down there?" Fury demanded clearly getting annoyed.

"It's rather difficult to explain. But 007 is still in pursuit." May replied as she followed the train.

The hacker was still on the roof and believed the agent was on the carriage before the one he was on. Jumping down he uncoupled it and went inside and saw it was an empty dining car. May saw the track went north-west out of the city and into the mountains but first it went over a bridge with the river flowing under it. May saw an alternative route and went to get ahead of the train. Coulson soon realised he hadn't head anymore footsteps and began back tracking through the train. Coulson walked into the dining car and seeing the hacker the pair faced each other.

"Who the hell are you?" The hacker asked.

"Classified." Coulson replied, "You?"

"Not that it matters, Miles." The hacker replied.

Miles charged at the older man, tackling him in the midriff. Coulson grunted but only took a step back to stop himself before pushing back and slamming his elbow into Miles shoulder. Miles hit the floor and Coulson kicked him away. The hard drive was on a necklace round his neck and now popped out of its hiding place from under the hacker's shirt. Coulson made a grab for it and went to use the cord as a way to choke the hacker. Miles grunted as he tried to fight the man off. In the end he twisted his body which pulled Coulson down with him. The cord snapped and both men had a grip on the cord, the hard drive dangling between them. Using the cord as leverage, Miles spun on his side to bring a boot to Coulson's head. Coulson let go of the cord as he scrambled to his feet.

"I'm running out of road, this track leads out of town and into the mountains. I can't go any further." May reported doubting even the Acura could tackle the fast flowing river and mountains.

May grabbed a sniper rifle from the back of the SUV knowing the train was about to come to her soon.

Inside Miles had Coulson in a choke hold; Coulson gripped the arm round his neck keeping it away from his neck enough to still breathe. Miles went to change his grip and Coulson brought his head back hard and could feel something crack behind him. Miles grunted in pain and let Coulson go. Coulson got up and turned to face him, his back was towards the exit of the train.

May could just see through the big windows of the dining car, she had hoped they would stay above the train not in it.

"I may have a shot." She called.

Coulson could also hear and was thinking she was mad to think this was a shot. Miles came at him and Coulson brought a knee up to his chest, winding him as he went to grab the drive still in his hand. Miles uppercut Coulson's jaw sending him reeling back towards the exit. Miles turned him round looking ready to throw the man off the train.

May looked down the sight and between the struggling pair she knew this would be risky.

"It's not clean, I repeat it's not a clean shot." May said as she still kept the pair in her sights.

_Of course it's not bloody clean!_ Coulson thought in his head.

Miles held Coulson's left arm behind his back and hand a hand round his throat. Coulson was still struggling trying to free his arm or head-butt him again the resulting spin had miles back to the open door.

May looked where the train was heading and it would soon disappear into a tunnel.

"There's a tunnel ahead. I'm going to lose them." May reported getting panicked.

"Can you get into a better position?" Hill asked.

"Negative, no time." May reported.

"Take the shot." Fury said.

May stiffened at the trigger. Coulson was even more desperate to free himself knowing he was facing May.

"I said take the shot." Fury repeated not hearing a shot.

"I can't I may hit Coulson." May said still looking down the sights at the messy shot.

"Take the god damn shot!" Fury shouted down the comms.

May pulled the trigger and everything happened in slow motion. The glass window cracked and Coulson went slack, Miles noted the change and shoved Coulson out the train sideways towards the verge. Coulson hit the verge and rolled down it before falling off the edge and off the bridge. May could only watch in slow motion as Coulson fell down and hit the river with a large splash. As the train was about to pass May's position, Miles looked back at her smiling as he held the drive in his hand.

"Agent down." May reported, guilt in her face as she realised she had missed and had presumably killed her old friend.

Director Fury grimaced as he turned his back on the operations and walked down to the end of the Helicarriers command centre and looked out the large view windows. They were hovering over New York and it was raining hard outside.

May drove down to the river to try and find Coulson's body but the flow was going too fast and even by the time it was dark and every SHIELD agent out following the river's course, no one had found his body.


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **I hope people are enjoying this story as it doesn't seem to get as much reception as I had hoped :(

**chapter 2**

After a couple of days the search was called off for 007, he was presumed dead and lost to the water. Agent May blamed herself for his death and retired from field work. Director Fury came under fire from the secret council about the missing data. Fury kept saying he was handling it but the council was concerned for their undercover agents and wanted them to be recalled out before the data could be decrypted. Fury refused saying some were too deep and were getting too much valuable and much needed information. The council tried to get him to step down but Fury refused once again and walked away ending their call. Fury stepped out to the Command Centre of the Helicarrier he was on. His assistant and fellow Agent Hill was waiting.

"Take it they didn't like the news." Hill commented as she fell into step beside him.

"Is there any news they like?" Fury counted as he walked to his station.

An alarm went off and Fury called up the data on one of his screens.

"Returning Quinjet that isn't responding to our calls. Possibly hostile." An agent reported.

Fury watched it for a few moments before seeing it had weapons drawn.

"Get the guns up, I want it taken down." Fury barked.

Several agents starting keying in commands for the Helicarriers automated defenses to activate and aim for the errant Quinjet. The turrets began filling the air with shells but the Quinjet dodged most of them or didn't slow. It opened fire with its own gun, shooting across the deck at deck workers and any aircraft to damage them, keeping them grounded. The cargo bay was open and as it pulled up, small packages slid out the back and exploded along the deck, wrecking it and causing serious shakes throughout the carrier. One of its passes a couple of the explosive packages got sucked into one of the turbine engines, mangling the rotating metal to useless. One of the turrets managed to cripple a wing and engine and the Quinjet toppled out of the sky, spraying fire as it rolled past the nose of the carrier. Bullets struck the glass as panes cracked and shatter. An unlucky agent was shot and computer screens shattered too.

"Land us and I want to know who was flying that craft." Fury ordered as he walked over to the down agent.

Elsewhere on an island in the Pacific Ocean, a man was wandering along the beach heading for the local drinks hut. He had become quite well known in the last few weeks especially to the local deadly drinking game. He walked in and the locals there were already cheering asking if he was going to partake, but he said he'd make it more challenging by drinking a bit first. Bets were already flying about how long it would take for him to down the drink or how many drinks he would have beforehand. Some tourists were wondering what was going on and the locals explained that he was going to try the Scorpion. They joined in the bets as well.

The man motioned for the barman for the Scorpion. The whole bar dropped to hush whispers as they looked at the average build dark haired man. He had a short beard on his chin and some people had said he looked government. The triple shot of alcohol was poured and placed on the bar in front of him. Next the barman got the Scorpion ready. The man held the glass and the scorpion was placed on his glass hand. Now the whole place went deathly silent. The man's blue eyes fixed on the scorpion as he slowly raised his arm. The scorpion noticed the change in movement and its stinger flicked in warning. Still the man lifted his arm till it was almost level to his mouth. Carefully and eyes still watching the creature, he tilted the glass. One of his hand bones moved the scorpions' leg and it raised its pincers and tightened the curl in its tail, relaxed then flexed again. The crowd was also fixed on the scorpion, waiting for the strike it was threatening to do. The rim of the glass touched the man's lips and the scorpion seemed to deciding if to strike or not. At this close range the man would not be able to avoid its stinger or pincers to his face. The drink past his lips and down his throat in one swallow and he tilted his glass hand to knock off the scorpion before covering it with the upside down empty shot glass.

The crowd whooped and cheered as money was exchanged to those that won. Some of the bigger winners offered him a portion of their winnings which he didn't want but they insisted so reluctantly he accepted. He carried on drinking the rest of the night, doing the scorpion drink once more for some of the tourists who had tried and failed and sported swollen or cut lips and cheeks for their troubles. The man didn't reveal how he did it and one of the women commented as they walked away it was probably those eyes of his. The man smiled as he looked back at the young woman. The man carried on drinking into morning past the normal closing time and after all the punters had gone. The barman let him stay as all the money the man had own was handed over and the barman knew he was an honest man so let him help himself to the drink. During one of his shots of scotch he noticed something in the mirror behind the bar; it showed the TV screen behind his head. He normally didn't watch but what he saw made him turn around.

On the screen was the severely battle damaged Helicarrier of SHIELD. She was listing slightly on one side and as the news helicopter flew over he could see the badly crippled engine and the hole in the hull causing it to slowly sink. Sighing the man finished his drink and decided it was time to return to work.

Back in New York, Nick Fury was heading to his personal safe house on the ground. He didn't like that his carrier was damaged and on the ground. It meant he was vulnerable on the ground where enemies could strike anywhere. It was night and he was extra vigilant. He knew Hill was across the road watching too. Once he was inside he let out a sigh, he was a little bit safer here. He went to get himself a drink when he spotted one of his tumblers was missing and the bottle was already missing a glass full. Turning round to face the window he could just make out the silhouette of someone leaning there clearly drinking.

"Where the hell have you been?" Fury demanded knowing there was only one man brave enough to try this.

"Enjoying death. 007 reporting for duty." The shadow replied lifting the glass in a mock toast.

Fury flicked on the lights and the shadow was revealed to be a rough looking man who didn't like the bright lights too much. Fury recognized him as his missing and presumed dead friend and top agent, 007 Coulson.

"Why the hell didn't you call?" Fury demanded looking at him.

"You didn't get the postcard?" Coulson jokingly asked before shrugging. "You know you should try it sometime, get away from it all, it recalling lends perspective." Coulson told him as he sipped at the alcohol.

Fury noted the way Coulson was nursing his glass. Fury also noticed he had a bottle of drink in his hand too.

"Ran out of drink where you were did they?" Fury commented.

Coulson looked annoyed as he stepped into the light more so fury could see him and his eyes were red from alcohol.

"What was it you said? Take the bloody shot!" Coulson snapped as he put the bottle down.

"I made a judgement call." Fury remained calmed.

"You should have trusted me to finish the job." Coulson fired back, an angry edge to his voice and he emphasised the word trust.

"It was the possibility of losing you or the certainty of losing all those other agents. I made the only decision I could and you know it." Fury replied still calm as if he had done nothing wrong.

Coulson put the glass down on the table shaking his head clearly not happy with the answer he got.

"I think you lost your nerve." Coulson replied.

"What do you expect a bloody apology?" Fury said to him as if he was talking to an agent in training rather than a veteran as he took a step towards Coulson, "You know the rules of the game; you've been playing it long enough. We both have."

"Maybe too long." Coulson scoffed raising an eyebrow.

"Speak for yourself." Fury replied staring at him.

"So this is it, we're both played out." Coulson finally said rolling his eyes as he looked around him.

"If you believed that then why did you come back?" Fury pointed out to him.

"Good question." Coulson replied raising an eyebrow looking around him for some reason and finding nothing.

Fury nodded then agreeing that Coulson really could have stayed in whatever pit he had crawled out from.

"Because we're under attack and you know we need you." Fury admitted as he thought about the possibility of recent events that had Fury worried about his fears that had been growing for the last few years.

Coulson let out a really long and deep sigh and turned back to face Fury.

"Well I'm here." Coulson told him.

"You'll have to be debriefed and declared fit for active service. You can only return to duty when you've passed the tests. So take them seriously and a shower might be in order." Told him as he turned to leave the room.

"I'll go home and change." Coulson went to walk out.

"Oh we've sold your apartment." Fury turned back round to face Coulson and saw him look very disappointed.

Fury had to admit he felt sorry for the agent who had to box up all of his collectible items and his precious Captain America cards in a sealed box.

"Put your things into storage. Standard procedure on the death of an unmarried employee with no next of kin. Should have called." Fury finished explains not able to hide the small smile on his lips.

"I'll find a hotel." Coulson replied looking defeated.

"Well you're bloody well not sleeping here." Fury replied back like the thought was completely absurd as he turned and walked away turning the light back off again as he left.

He heard a thud and a breathed curse which only made him smile more but worried for the agent that he had let himself go too far.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: **

Thanks to Alisha Winchester Collins, mynameisagent and firerosedreamer67 for your reviews. Also to 18KmPerHr for her kind PM.

Terribly sorry for the long delay but like Gravity of Love, I lost a lot of motivation with these stories. I'm hoping I can get back into the swing of writing.

Please leave reviews as I'm sure they'll help keep me on this roll of writing.

**Chapter 3**

When Coulson awoke he was picked up from his hotel room and taken to the Triskelion for his testing. Once there he was led to the test area and noted the absence of trainees. Looking closer he realized the walls weren't well kept, the paint faded and old not kept clean and covered in fitness posters. This was for agents like him, gone off the grid and now returning. The agent leading him pointed to the changing room and when Coulson walked in he saw a set of clothes on a bench for him to change into. Black tracksuit trousers and a black Shield logoed t-shirt. He got changed slowly, mentally preparing himself for what was coming. He'd done physicals before. He knew he needed to run so far in a certain amount of time. He knew he had to do a certain amount of each exercise in a set time. As he pulled his shirt off he winced as old injuries played up. He looked at his right shoulder noting the scar caused by his last mission. He massaged the area feeling the shrapnel still embedded inside. He let out a sigh knowing that it was possibly going to affect his chances in the test. Grimacing he pulled the clean shirt on, his knuckles brushing over the scar on his ribs from the same mission. He looked in the mirror and he still looked rough and hung-over. Rubbing a hand over his beard he decided it wouldn't hurt to tidy it up as well.

He left the room and Agent Hill was stood outside waiting, clutching a folder to her chest. The look on her face said it all. Even though he had left a goatee of a beard circling his mouth and down his chin his eyes still looked like crap. Coulson did the one thing he knew would annoy her which was to smile. Agent Hill just tightened her lips together and Coulson knew he had annoyed her.

"Shall we?" Coulson asked.

Hill said nothing as she led him through to the testing area. First up he had sensors placed on him to monitor his progress. He didn't know how long he had been running on the treadmill except for the about of sweat forming on his skin but all the while Agent Hill was bringing him up to speed on the recent events after his apparent 'second death'.

"We're not sure who it is but we think it's someone from Fury's past." Agent Hill told him.

Next Coulson was doing sit-ups. Sweat was running off him by now, pooling at his lower back every time he sat up. He had to concentrate on his breathing occasionally his eyes would flick to Hill who was still filling him in.

"The Quinjet that attacked up was remotely controlled and no one has been able to decipher the codes used to control it." Hill continued.

A medical examiner said he could stop and he stood up and Hill led him to the next test which was pull ups. Coulson rubbed his hands on his trousers before gripping the bar and pulling himself up, his chin passed the bar then he would lower himself.

"In truth we have no idea who is attacking us and why." Hill continued watching Coulson.

It didn't escape her knowledge he was having to concentrate hard on what he was doing like breathing but he was also concentrating on controlling what his body was telling the medical examiners.

"We can do this another time if you'd like." Hill told him.

Coulson slowly lowered himself to his feet and nodded. Hill and the medical examiner left the room. Once the door was shut, Coulson let out a strangled grunt of pain as he slid down to the floor. His right shoulder was giving him grief. After a few minutes of rest he was led to next test which was the firing range. Hill was watching from behind as another examiner was watching the target sheet. Coulson had a handgun in his right hand. He watched the target paper; he could see the kill zones, head and heart. In a snap he brought the gun up from hip height, gripped it with both hands and pointing it at the target pulled a shot off as quickly as possible in a snap shot. The bullet tore through the paper, but not in the kill zone. In fact he missed the silhouette of a person completely. He looked confused and looked at the examiner as he rolled his right shoulder, ignoring the grating feeling of the shrapnel still there. He turns sideways and holds the gun in his right and squeezes the trigger. It's another miss on the other side of the silhouette. He looks again at the examiner and then back at Hill. He starts walking towards the target, emptying the mag staring at the heart kill zone on the target. Once the gun clicks empty he stops and looks at the target sheet. The shots are all over the place but none are in the kill zone. Coulson is frustrated as he walks back to the start and drops the gun on the table and walks towards Hill.

He can tell Hill isn't impressed but leads him to the final test. He's sat in a room in front of a table with a psych evaluator on the other side of the table.

"Now I'm going to give you some words and I want you to say the first thing that comes into your mind. For example, I might say day and you would say?" The evaluator asked.

"Wasted." Coulson replied with a look of clearly not amused.

The evaluator gave a weak smile clearly he was use to people thinking these tests were a waste of time. He wanted to say something but clearly thought better of it as he carried on with the test.

"Gun?"

"Shot." Coulson replied.

"Agent?"

"Secret." Coulson almost laughs it out.

"Woman?"

"Puzzle." Coulson replies as he momentarily drifts over his 'puzzles'.

"Heart?"

"Target." Coulson replied coldly.

"Fury?"

"Bastard." Coulson replied smiling at the word.

Unseen by him but he knew they were there, behind a one way mirror stood Hill with Fury. Hill turned to face Fury clearly not liking the fact Coulson had so openly said something like that about Director Fury. Fury merely kept watching his old friend.

"Sunlight?"

"Swim." Coulson replied.

"Moonlight?"

"Dance." Coulson replied, lightly closing his eyes briefly before opening them again.

"Murder?"

"Employment." Coulson replied coldly again.

"Country?"

"America." Coulson replied as if it wasn't that difficult of a choice.

"Skyfall?"

The smile on Coulson's face dropped as his lip seemed to quiver at the mention of that word.

"Skyfall?" The evaluator repeated again.

"Done." Coulson said and stood up and walked out of the room, giving the mirror the briefest of glances.

Behind the mirror Hill was still not impressed.

"Well this is going well." She said before heading out and leading Coulson back to the changing room.

Coulson was frustrating as he pull the shirt off, grunting once again because of his right shoulder. He threw the shirt hard across the room and heard a clatter. He could see the metallic object was a knife and as he pushed his fingers up to his scar he decided it was time to finally get rid of them and maybe get a lead on who had supplied the young man with the gun. He picked up the knife and walked over to the sink and turned on the light. He braced himself as he pulled open the knife and began digging the blade into the scar tissue to re-open the wound. He let out strangled groans trying to keep the noise down in case Hill decided to investigate. After rotating his shoulder he was sure he had all the pieces and carefully washed them under the tap. He put on a loose jacket and found Hill outside still waiting. He asked her for a bio-sample bag for the fragments and she did. Coulson put them in.

"This is from the bullet of the man; Miles was his name, who stole that hard drive." Coulson told her.

Hill disappeared knowing the significance of the fragments. Coulson got showered and found a light grey suit and white shirt had been prepared for him and hanging on the rails. He got changed and headed up to Fury's office. He was asked to wait till he was collected. The person that did was Agent May. She looked a little shocked to see him as he was.

"I'm sorry do I know you?" Coulson joked, smiling kindly at her.

"I'm the one who should be sorry." May replied.

He walked towards calmly.

"It only cost me a couple of broken ribs." He said before whispering to her as he passed her, "Nothing major."

"It cost me a reassignment." May said as she led him towards Fury's office.

"Really?" Coulson asked looking shocked.

"Something to do with killing 007." May replied.

"Well you gave it your best shot." Coulson said to her sarcastically touching his side.

"That was hardly my best shot." May smiled back, grateful that even after all this time, Coulson could still be a forgiving man.

"I'm not sure I could survive your best." Coulson replied a little worried that it wasn't her best.

"I'll doubt you'll get the chance." May replied, "My specialty is close-combat."

"Well, do me a favor, will you? If they do ever let you back out there, warn me first." Coulson said to her still smiling.

"Ah, 007 this way please." Hill said as she spotted the pair walking towards her.

"In your defense, a moving target is much harder to hit." Told her before heading towards Hill.

"Then you'd better keep moving." May called after him.

Coulson smiled as he followed Hill into Fury's office. No sooner had he sat down another man walked in like he owned the place. Coulson recognized him as Alexander Pierce, a member of the World Security Council. Something about him set Coulson's nerves on edge. He wasn't sure why but he didn't like the man.

"Ah so this must be the legendary 007." He said as he walked over and shook his hand.

Fury was reading Coulson's medical test file.

"Well it seems Coulson you can return to active duty." Fury told him.

Coulson seemed a little shocked and decided it was best to leave.

"I have one question for you 007." Alexander said turning to face him.

Coulson stopped and turned to face him.

"Why come back? You could have stayed dead, lived quietly somewhere. Not many field agents get such a clean escape." Alexander asked him.

"Have you been in the field much?" Coulson countered him.

Alexander's face turned serious.

"You don't need to be an operative to see the obvious. It's a young man's game." Alexander said to him.

"Hire me or fire. It's entirely up to you." Coulson replied.

"If Coulson says he's ready he's ready." Fury added.

"Are you sentimental about him?" Alexander asked.

"While I am Director I will choose my own operatives." Fury replied sternly.

Alexander tried to smile and laugh it all off but it didn't work on Fury or Coulson. He stood up, straightened his suit and walked back to Coulson.

"Well good luck, 007. Don't screw it up." Alexander said before leaving.

Hill reappeared and had a tablet with her.

"We analyzed that bullet and the scary thing is its one of our bullets. But this 'Miles' isn't one of our operatives. We have nothing on him. The only Miles that does ring any bells is a Miles Lydon, a hacker and member of the Rising Tide." Hill explained all the while displaying the info on a holographic screen.

"Rising Tide?" Coulson asked as he looked over the screen.

"A Hacktivist group that believes all information should be free to everyone. Really they are an enormous thorn in our side." Hill explained.

Fury just sat back and watched the information and Coulson absorbing the information. Coulson was the best at what he did and the more information that was presented to him the better. Being a profiler helped as well as he could judge the best call of action to use and mostly without too much bloodshed unless the enemy fired first.

"The only member that is possibly the easiest to track is someone who goes by the name of Skye. Unfortunately that's all we know and that she is a female judging by the voice." Hill explained as she played one of the many podcasts this 'Skye' had sent.

Coulson listened to the voice and words used. Fury could tell he was profiling this person already.

"Definitely female, young." Coulson said aloud.

"How do you know?" Hill asked.

"I listen." Coulson replied, "I'll need everything you have on this person and I'll begin searching for her. Hopefully she'll lead me to Mr Miles."

Hill looked at Fury who nodded. Hill got to work going to get a spare tablet for him to have all the information on the mission and the Rising Tide.

"I want you to head down to the Science Labs and find FitzSimmons. A pair of young scientists who will equip you for this. Afterwards head to the hanger and find Agent Grant Ward. He's a pilot who will take you where you need to go." Fury told him as Hill returned with his tablet.

"Great more time being cooped up on a Quinjet." Coulson groaned.

"I figured I owed you an upgrade." Fury said back to him.

Coulson was left wondering what it was this 'upgrade' was but first he needed to find this FitzSimmons. He headed down to the lab and already he could hear an argument between two scientists, a British woman and a Scottish man. Something about the name of a piece of equipment they were working on. Coulson rounded the corner and the Scotsman was holding an advanced rifle.

"FitzSimmons?" Coulson asked.

"Fitz." The woman replied pointing at the Scotsman.

"Simmons." The Scotsman replied pointing at the woman.

"I'm…" Coulson began.

"007! Such a pleasure to meet you…" Simmons interrupted.

"Your work is legendary in the Academy." Fitz added.

Coulson looked a little uneasy about the attention.

"Apparently you have something for me." Coulson said to them.

He didn't want to seem rude but he didn't think he deserved this 'legendary' status people were branding him with. It was too much attention on him that he didn't need as a spy.

"Oh yes, this is a night-night gun…" Fitz began lifting up a small version of the rifle he had been holding.

"Night-night? Really Fitz?" Simmons interrupted.

"Yes Simmons, Night-night gun. As I was saying…" Fitz continued.

"The gun fires non-lethal bullets with heavy stopping power that break up under the subcutaneous tissue…" Simmons added.

"From there, the bullets deliver a tiny amount…" Fitz continued explaining.

"Of dendrotoxin, incapacitating the target long enough for them to be secured and with no harmful side effects." Simmons finished smiling.

Coulson was looking between the two of them trying to figure them out as he accepted the gun and magazines.

"Do you two always finish each other's sentences?" Coulson asked.

"Yeah sorry about that." Simmons replied.

"We just work so well together they didn't want to part us." Fitz added before handing over a bag to Coulson with some more conventional tools of the trade, including a normal handgun and a new passport.

"Oh really?" Simmons asked.

Coulson took the cue to leave before another argument broke out between the two. Coulson headed down to the hangar and sure enough the hangar appeared to be full of Quinjets. He spotted the hangar supervisor and asked where to find this Grant ward. The man directed him to the back of the hangar, said he was onboard an airborne mobile command unit. Coulson remembered those back in the days before Helicarriers. As he walked away he muttered to himself.

"Now that's an upgrade."

Coulson found the C-17 and looked her over. It was modified to have an extra set of wings and engines on the rear near the tail. It was black all over and already had two SHIELD SUV's loaded in its cargo hold. He peered up the ramp.

"Agent Grant Ward?" Coulson yells up.

A young, tall dark haired man appeared up on the railings.

"Agent Coulson?" The young man asked him.

"I need a ride to Los Angeles." Coulson called up to him.

"Sure thing." Grant replied and headed to the cockpit.

Coulson went aboard and headed upstairs to the longue area. He wasn't quite sure what to make of this Grant Ward. He didn't appear too happy with this assignment and Coulson straight away pegged him as a specialist, a lone worker, much like himself. He settled himself down into one of the window seats and pulled out his tablet and began reviewing the Rising Tide. Just then a new podcast from this 'Skye' was being broadcasted. He looked up and saw no movement coming towards him so he decided he would listen in while they travelled from New York to Los Angeles.


	4. Chapter 4

**Author's Note:**

Sorry but no matter how many times I've re-read what I've done and my notes I just can't write anymore of this story. I've tried and tried and there are only so many weeks you can stare at a blank word doc under the story title and nothing written.

So this story will be deleted within the week or put on permeant hold.

Sorry I have tried to continue them but lost a ton of steam with them.


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